About four dozen protesters gathered near the Medicine Hat Remand Centre at about 5 p.m. Tuesday to protest the arrest of Tamara Lich, a main organizer of the Ottawa convoy protest, on charges the Redcliff resident breached her bail conditions.--News Photo
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Tamara Lich will appear in an Ottawa courtroom today to answer to an allegation that she broke her bail conditions while in Alberta.
She was arrested Monday by Medicine Hat police who were acting on a Canada-wide warrant issued by Ottawa police, but the official reason behind a charge has not been released.
Lich, one of the central organizers of convoy protests in Ottawa last winter, is on bail awaiting trial on charges she incited mischief and obstructed police during demonstrations that shut down the city centre for weeks.
A statement from Medicine Hat police on Tuesday morning states officers arrested the Redcliff resident on Monday afternoon after Ottawa police issued a nationwide warrant on a one-count charge of failing to comply with a release condition.
This spring she was released from custody on condition she remain off social media and refrain completely from taking part in “convoy related events,” and avoid contact with a number of specific individuals, mostly other organizers of the convoy movement.
She appeared before a local justice of the peace on Tuesday morning and was remanded in custody for six days, which the service says is typical when dealing with matters across provincial boundaries. She is to be transported by the Ottawa police to that city to answer to the charge.
Ottawa police did not respond to messages from the News seeking more information on the case.
Lich had been granted some latitude on her conditions in May when a judge allowed her to attend a free-speech award dinner in May over the objection of Crown prosecutors.
Eric Granger, one of Lich’s lawyers, confirmed the arrest to The Canadian Press on Monday, and added at that point the arrest appeared to be related to Lich’s bail conditions.
“We are not aware of anything that could have prompted this and are surprised by this development given the recent bail review hearing in Ontario where Ms. Lich’s positive record for complying with her conditions was one reason why some of her conditions were relaxed at that time,” Granger wrote in an email.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips said he made his decision to allow Lich to attend the awards dinner because she had followed her bail conditions, her surety supervised her well and she’d already had a “taste of jail,” which he said lowered her risk to reoffend.
Phillips amended her release conditions to allow her to visit Ottawa, but not the downtown core. He maintained the ban on Lich’s access to social media, saying that prohibiting such access remained warranted.
— with files from The Canadian Press
